The weather event titled Edouard did not arrive in the UnitedStates as a hurricane, hitting the U.S. Coast east of Galveston,Texas, as a tropical storm with maximum winds of 65 mph, accordingto the National Hurricane Center.

Meteorologists there said the storm weakened as it moved inland,after hitting the Texas coast with strong winds and heavy rain. Thetropical storm warning was cancelled for New Orleans.

Steve Smith a meteorologist with Re Advisory, a service ofCarvill insurance brokerage, reported that Edouard made landfallwell east of Galveston in the McFadden National WildlifeRefuge.

“As such, damage is expected to be limited. The most significantimpact from Edouard is likely to be localized flooding – in somesmall areas east of Houston, Edouard has dropped 4 inches of rainwith more to come,” he wrote.

At 11:00 a.m. EDT the center of Edouard was located 45 milesnorth-northeast of Galveston, moving forward at about 15 mph.

Forecasters said Edouard is expected to produce three-to-fiveinches of rain in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas,with possibilities of up to ten inches in parts of southeast Texas.Isolated tornadoes are also possible over parts of southwestLouisiana and southeast Texas.

Edouard forced oil and gas companies located in the Gulf ofMexico to evacuated 23 of the area's 717 production platforms.Oakland, Calif.-based Eqecat catastrophe modeling firm said itcontinues to predict negligible damage, with insured losses notexceeding $100 million.